Today’s cars continue to become smarter as manufacturers recognize the value of automobiles that “learn” and adapt to the behaviors of drivers.

Cars recognize their drivers by connecting to their smartphone, then adjusting seats, mirrors and the steering wheel for comfort and safety. The cars “listen and learn” about each driver to provide the optimal driving experience.

How can car sales advisers learn from smart or self-learning cars to engage, optimize and convert women shoppers into buyers and provide the optimal sales experience? What changes can your dealership make to shorten the sales cycle and create an ongoing relationship with the female demographic, which is 50 percent of your overall market, according to Women-Drivers.com research?

Here are three strategies you can implement today:

Think emotionally. Emotions matter in car shopping and buying. Respect and trustworthiness are the top two reasons a woman buys from a particular sales adviser. While 50 percent of women are excited about their car purchase, only 30 percent are confident during and after the deal. Price matters in the deal, but emotions are a very large part of a woman buyer’s satisfaction levels.

Your Strategy: Learn how emotions affect the shopping experience. Learn to read body language as a way to assess how a deal is progressing. Learn to read your customer’s verbal and nonverbal cues that indicate hesitation. Ask questions to find out what is causing doubts about the purchase and work hard to eliminate the doubt and increase confidence.

Respect your shopper’s time. Your woman shopper may be on her lunch hour or ready to pick up her kids from school in an hour. She certainly isn’t window shopping; she is there to accomplish something. If a woman senses she is wasting her time, she will go elsewhere.

Your strategy: When a woman shopper walks in your door, create a mental attitude to treat her as the most important and busiest person you have ever met. You are looking for a customer that not only buys from you today, but services her car at your service center and returns to buy her next car.

Photo: youtube.comDemographics have changed, and the old rules no longer apply.

Visualize Your Best Dealership.How do you help your sales advisers have the highest possible EQ (Emotional Quotient)? How do you see your dealership changing if you proactively educate your sales and service advisers to read your buyer’s emotions? What would happen if you empowered your advisers to adjust their sales techniques to advance a sale? What if your hiring procedures screened for people with high EQs as well as strong sales skills?

Your Strategy: Drive more sales by educating and empowering your women buyers. Offer seminars to your women customers about buying and servicing cars. Educate and empower your sales and service advisers. Encourage new ideas to engage your customers and foster loyalty. When you are hiring your sales advisers, look for people who already have a high EQ. This means they are trustworthy, respectful, good listeners and adept problem solvers. Choose people who easily adapt to new situations and can read nonverbal cues such as body language and tone of voice. Explore new ways to motivate and incentivize your sales advisers to help them realize that the sales process is just the start of a good customer relationship. Reward your sales advisers when your women customers continue the customer relationship by bringing their car in for service.

This is no longer your father’s dealership. Demographics have changed, and the old rules no longer apply.

Half of your demographic, women buyers, will respond to a softer approach that can create a long-lasting, satisfied customer relationship with your dealership.

* Santander Consumer USA does not endorse Anne Fleming or the content of Women-Drivers.com in any way. This blog’s opinions are not Santander Consumer USA’s opinions and Santander Consumer USA shall not be responsible for its accuracy, completeness or integrity.